Playing With Danger
by crazytomboy78
Summary: It's nearing the end of the school year, and that means it's time to crack down and study for finals-but for Tony, it's not that easy. With Tony in the center of the target of a mysterious new force, will he pass the year or will his life pay the price?
1. From The End to the Beginning

_Pepper busted through the front doors to the hospital, stopped for a moment to look around, then ran again. The wind passing her as she ran through the hospital began to dry her tears, but she knew they kept falling. She ran past hospital rooms filled with people with different ailments. She ignored their cries of pain and family members' weeping. They had nothing on them compared to what she was facing now. She peered into each hospital room, hoping to find Tony; her Tony. The person she had been forced to tear herself from just hours earlier only to find out over a single devastating phone call was perhaps minutes away from slipping under. And she would not let him go under; at least not without her being by his side. _

_At the end of the hall, Pepper saw a sign that pointed out where to find the cafeteria, emergency room, and other areas of the hospital. She quickly followed the given directions, ran quickly down a staircase, down another hallway, and that's when she saw the room. The outside doors were guarded so no one would get inside. The shade on the window was down. Pepper tried to push her way past the guards, but they overpowered her._

"_You're not allowed in there, miss." One of the guards warned. Pepper took a step back and felt angry. Suddenly, she screamed "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Trying not to cry at the same time, but failing to, and pushed the guards out of the way. She burst through the door and pushed her way past the doctors surrounding Tony's bed._

_When Pepper saw him laying there, covered in blood, cuts and bruises, bandages and respirators, everything churning and beeping, she stopped in her tracks. She had tried to stay strong before, but seeing him like that just crushed her. She bent down to his side, placed her hand on top of hers and ignoring the blood that stained her hand, and stared into his closed eyes with tears streaming down hers. _

"_No, no no no no, Tony please don't die! I need you here, I need you…please don't go…I…I love you, Tony…please, don't…" She couldn't speak anymore. She was too overwhelmed with tears. She dropped her head beside his hand and her tears fell onto him. _

"_Pepper…" When she heard that weak, whispering voice, Pepper immediately perked up and looked to see Tony's eyes the tiniest sliver opened._

"_T-Tony? I-is that you?" Pepper asked quietly._

"_Pepper…I," Pepper smiled widely, but stayed silent and waited for him to continue._

"_I love you, too, Pepper…" He whispered. Pepper kept her smile and felt the tears stream down her cheeks again._

"_Do me a favor, Tony," She said, "don't die." Tony quietly slipped back into a deep sleep as Pepper leaned over his bedside and kissed him._

~…~

Pepper latched onto Tony's arm tighter as the memory flashed in her mind. She smiled up to him and felt thankful that his eyes were a bright, sparkly blue.

"Hey, Tony?" She said happily.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"I love you," Tony chuckled.

"I love you back, then," Tony said, leaning in to kiss her. "But why do you keep saying that?"

"Because, I never want to let you go, silly!" Pepper laughed.

"Ahem? Guys? If you want to come back to reality, I'd like to inquire what happened last week? I believe you have quite the story to tell." Cori interrupted, trying not to gag at their gushiness as she placed her feet atop the desk next to her.

"Oh, right. Well, anyways, it all started a few weeks ago…"

~…~

On a normal, sunny spring day, one wouldn't suspect trouble is brewing. That's why Tony, Pepper and Rhodey hadn't a worry in the world today. Why would they? Last few weeks of school ahead, it's bright and warm outside, the sun is smiling down on them, and for Pepper, Tony was being as dreamy as ever.

"Come on, can't you just skip being Iron Man for _one _day? You promised we'd do something fun today!" Pepper whined. Tony chuckled.

"That's not really something I have a choice over, Pepper," Tony responded. "And I know I promised we'd hang out today, but I have a responsibility to attend to. I need to work on the armor before an emergency comes up and I'm not prepared."

"Aww, can't you just use some other armor? You have like five of them!"

"Sorry Pepper, I really am. But I promise, as soon as I'm done we can do whatever it is that you wanted to do." Tony said. Pepper folded her arms and moped.

"You're no fun." Tony smiled and attended to his armor.

Little did he know how vulnerable he was at that moment.

**Well, short epilogue, but friggin' awesome start to what is going to be an awesome story! HAHA! So many questions here. Like, for instance, who is Cori? What role does she play in this story? Why was Tony in the hospital? What will happen next? Find out in the next chapter of *drumroll please!* Endangerment! Review :3 **

**Oh, P.S.-sorry if I didn't title it 'Endangerment', it was just a rough draft title that idk if I'm going to use or not. **

**P.P.S-the commercial for IM:AA season 2 is SUPPOSED to air before or after Voltron Force on Thursday! Yeah, that's right! I said this Thursday, June 16****th****, 2011! I'M SO EXCITED YOU PEOPLE HAVE NOOOOOO IDEA :3 XD**


	2. More Than Meets The Eye

At school the next day, Tony, Pepper and Rhodey were sitting in their first mod class when the teacher walked in with a new student.

"Class, this is our new student, Cori Bennett." The teacher, who was one of the rather strict teachers in the school, left Cori to stand awkwardly in front of the class for a moment before taking her seat near Tony. Tony, being his normal arrogant self, had his feet on his desk and his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner. It was science, of course, so he normally took the liberty to comfort himself while listening to stuff that he already knew.

"Umm. You do know you're not supposed to have your feet on the desk right?" Cori whispered to Tony. Tony smirked.

"Oh, no it's okay. I'm a genius, so I don't need to pay attention. Besides, Ms. Green is used to it." Tony whispered.

"I'm noticing you're a bit high and mighty in that head of yours, huh?" Tony chuckled.

"How'd you know?" Tony said jokingly. Then he caught sight of Ms. Green's warning glare, cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the lecture.

Pepper, having overheard the whole conversation, frowned in disgust. _He better not be flirting or so help me god…_unfortunately, Pepper thought it a little too loud and Rhodey must have heard it…that meaning she accidentally whispered the statement.

"And why do you care?" Rhodey teased. Pepper blushed.

"U-uhh, I don't!" Pepper whispered back. Ms. Green cast her gaze over to Pepper and Rhodey, and they were silenced then as well.

After class, Tony walked out with Rhodey and Pepper but soon enough Cori caught up with the three.

"Oh, hey guys! I was hoping you'd help me find my way around the school, I just know I'm going to get lost," Cori said shyly.

"Oh, sure no problem." Tony said.

"Oh, hey I'm Cori!" Cori said, turning to Rhodey and Pepper. Pepper crossed her arms in an annoyed fashion, yet tried not to show it.

"I'm Rhodey, and that's Pepper," Rhodey explained with a smirk towards Pepper. He knew she was only being reluctant because she thought Tony was flirting with the new girl; even though he wasn't. It was just in his personality to act like he was even though he really wasn't.

"Nice to meet you! So where's the history rooms?" Cori asked.

"Oh, if you go down that hall, take a left and then go to the end of the hall, they should all be right there," Rhodey automatically explained before anyone else could.

"Oh cool, thanks!" Cori began her trek to her class.

"Here, I'm going there next. I'll go with you." Rhodey caught up with her and they were off.

Tony caught Pepper glaring angrily down the hall where Cori had been and smirked playfully.

"Angry with someone?" Tony asked curiously yet playfully.

"What? N-no, of course not, I was just, umm…practicing my angry glare…" Pepper fibbed. Tony chuckled.

"Okay then," Tony said as they began their way to their next class.

~…~

"So, I'm guessing you like history?" Cori asked as they took their seats in their next class.

"Yeah, but how did you know?" Rhodey answered.

"By the way you immediately told me where the history wing was, I could only figure you fancy the subject a bit." Cori explained. Rhodey shrugged.

"Hey, what can I say? I have a passion." Rhodey smiled.

"So, what are things like on your end of the spectrum?" Rhodey asked, changing the subject.

"Ehh, kinda boring. My mom got a job transfer into the city. We used to live in Tennessee," Cori explained in her country accent. Rhodey had noticed it when she first spoke, but he'd dismissed it thinking she's probably from the south somewhere. Her accent had intrigued him at first.

"and besides my mom, it's just me and my sister..." Cori said, reflecting on the memories of things her sister had done at her old school. And not all of them were things she wanted to remember.

"Oh, who's your sister?" Rhodey asked. Thankfully for Cori, the teacher began to talk, so she couldn't continue.

~…~

Outside the school's window, a mysterious benefactor sat and spied on a certain blue-eyed, brown haired boy with a grimace. She didn't bother to worry about being spotted, because her combat suit was decorated with stealth equipment that enabled her not to be seen by anyone; mysterious special mask or not. She had made the preparations beforehand and made sure that no one would see her. She glared more at the boy sitting arrogantly at his desk. It seemed it was a habit of his to act arrogantly. She hated his arrogance. But his cluelessness would work to her advantage. _That's right, you fool, you have no idea what's going to happen to you soon. You're all too vulnerable._

"Sir," She said quietly into her walkie-talkie, "the target is in place."

"_Good. Make sure he stays that way. And make sure he doesn't see a thing coming." _

**Bah-bah-baaah! Cliffhanger! And another short chapter D'X boohoo…future chapters will be longer, I promise! Now we know a little more about Cori, but who's the girl spying on Tony? Maybe we'll find out in future chapters…review!**


	3. A Day Full of Thinking

"So you're a tomboy country girl who moved with her mother to the big inner-city of New York?" Tony said as they sat in study hall. Cori nodded.

"I just can't believe no one asked me about my southern accent sooner," Cori said.

"So don't you hear all these New York accents? I don't know about you, but if I heard them all the time I'd go crazy." Rhodey commented. Cori giggled.

"Oh, I'll learn to get used to it."

Then the bell rang, and it was time for Cori and Pepper to go their separate ways from Tony and Rhodey.

"So, you and Tony huh?" Cori asked.

"What about me and Tony?" Pepper asked curiously. Cori noticed her blush and smiled.

"You like him, don't you?" Cori said with a smirk. Pepper's blush became brighter red and she looked away to try to hide it, but Cori could see all the signs. She'd seen all of them before, on several occasions.

"What? I-I don't…" Pepper started.

"No, no, it's okay. Save it," Cori said, holding up her hand. "Because I know you do…" She muttered as they walked into their classroom.

As they sat in their seats during class, they half-listened to the lesson and half-payed attention to the note they were passing back and forth.

_So why did you ask me if I like Tony?_ Pepper wrote.

_Because I was curious. I mean, I didn't mean to get all in your business, but I just saw it in your eyes._ Cori explained.

_W-well…I-I…I mean…_Is all Pepper could come up with to say. Even on paper, she was speechless.

_Aww, come on. Moment of total honesty. Girl to girl: do you like Tony Stark? _

_Okay, fine maybe I do!_

_HAHA, I knew it! But don't worry, it's okay! Because I've got just the advice for you!_

And they went on for the rest of the class.

~…~

After that class, Cori had a class separate from her three friends; which she often used to think. And today was a full day of thinking.

So, Pepper is clearly in love with Tony. But it's not like I care, because I think they're cute together. They just...need a gentle nudge towards their relationship. And I'm glad to, too.

On another note, I like my new school. It's better than life in Tennessee, where my sister was the devil and my mother didn't know a single cent worth of what I had to deal with by having a sister like mine to…take care of, per say, each day.

And the students here are way different than in Tennessee. People here are…so much more well behaved, compared to my old school. People in Tennessee were loose, and it was like they had no manners. Like, no one really had any respect for anyone who was different than them. Even in the sense of their mindset; even if they saw the world differently, there were those people who wouldn't like it at all. I'm just surprised I turned out well after being born there.

And the curriculum was different in a few ways too. Compared to Tennessee, the way things were taught here sounded so much more…intelligent. Like, not to be mean, really, I promise. But it was…it's not the easiest thing to explain. It was just very different. Or maybe it's just the fact that I'm actually able to pay attention now because I'm not trying to steer a bad-seed sister away from trouble constantly.

But then I looked out the window and my whole day turned around. The very person I wanted to see last was there, lurking, outside the window. What was she doing here?

"Hey, don't you see that girl sitting outside that window over there?" I asked a classmate sitting next to me. They just looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

"No, I-I don't…" They answered shyly. Now I was just confused. How could I be the only one who saw her? She was sitting out there, plain as day! There's no possible way you could miss her.

She wasn't even facing my direction, either. She was pointed towards another classroom…the classroom around the bend of the hallway…where Tony was…oh no. She can't be. She isn't. Why would she? It's not like she has any kind of grudge against Tony…

Crap.

~…~

After class, Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and Cori were walking down the hall. Cori, of course, was secretly giving Pepper the 'flirting advice' she had promised during their note-passing throughout the school day. Pepper was reluctantly following the given tips, although she was too shy about her crush to do some of the stuff Cori suggested, like batting her eyes in a flirty way or talking in a flirtatious tone, because then Tony would just ask if something was on her mind and she didn't want to have to come up with some stupid excuse.

Pepper, following a suggestion, had her back to the lockers next to Tony's as Tony got his books for his next class and Rhodey and Cori went to their own class—which they had together next period—and Tony, of course, wasn't noticing any of Pepper's efforts to show him at least a hint towards her liking him.

"Well I'm just surprised you even use books. I thought you memorized them all?" Pepper teased with a smile.

"Yeah, well, unfortunately, my teachers didn't like me not carrying anything to class so they made me start bringing them again." Tony said, not sounding too upset about it. Pepper remembered what she was told, swallowed her nervousness (most of it, at least,) and followed her tips. Pepper put on a flirty smile in hopes that Tony would notice.

Tony tried to ignore the fact that Pepper was so close to him. She didn't usually get too close to his face like this, and honestly he couldn't stop eyeing her lips and noticing her smile. There was something different about the way she was smiling at him than the way she usually did. Something…happier? And did she have something in her eyes? Because either she was trying to blink it out or she had some sort of blinking problem. Or maybe her eyes were really dry?

And besides that, her eyes had that certain special sparkle to them that he couldn't ignore. There were so many factors that were pushing him to kiss her right here and now, but he knew he had to hold back. I have to control my emotions, he thought. I'm in the middle of a high school hallway. Not the place for a sudden random makeout session with a girl who you're only friends with. Besides, isn't it just that…what's it called…hormones thing people always say teenagers get? It's nothing to panic about. It's not like I like my best friend. No, no way. I don't do that. That's not my thing.

Or at least, I hope not…

~…~

I glared at Stark through the classroom window as I thought about how much I hated him. Then I glanced over to the window of the classroom nearby, bringing my binoculars up to my eyes so I could better see the girl sitting in the classroom that looked just like me. I smiled as I raised my hand and watched her do the same.

You are my puppet to command, petty girl. You made the mistake of not joining me years ago. And now you are going to pay the price. You and Tony Stark.

You, dear sister, are going to help me get my revenge on Tony Stark.

**So, that's that chapter! What'cha think? Idk about you, but I'm excited for that one event in 9 days...I'm freaking out over here! Review!**


	4. Danger Arises

**OMG! I totally posted the wrong chapter! And I didn't even realize it -.- So sorry! Hey, at least it was another IM:AA story this time. Anyways, here's the real chapter four!**

Cori was becoming more concerned by the minute. Seeing your dangerous sister spying on someone that she has a reason to hold a grudge against isn't number one on a list of things Cori had wanted to see; especially when she was trying to start over at her new school after going to a school where you had the reputation of being the sister of the dangerous girl. _In case you didn't know, that's not fun._

Cori was glad to have friends on her side, but she wasn't so glad that one of her friends was the target of a dangerous person that she just so happened to be related to. Cori knew this meant she had to work hard to fight her sister in order to save her friend. Because when Chelsea picks a target, she latches onto said target like dung-beetles to a pile of crap, thought Cori. I know Tony's going to want to be all tough and brave for Pepper, (you know, because he likes her,) and he's going to want to take care of it all himself, but he has no idea what Chelsea is capable of. No one does but me.

"Cooooriiiiii," She heard a boy's voice chime. She looked up to see Rhodey standing over her desk.

"What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Cori responded.

"Obviously." Rhodey smirked. "I was just saying that the bell kinda rang. I don't know what that means in your old school, but here it means its time for the next class." Rhodey teased. Cori sarcastically laughed and punched Rhodey lightly on the shoulder, then stood, grabbed her books and they left class together.

Cori felt a smile creep up on her cheeks as she and Rhodey walked down the hall. They weren't in any sort of conversation, but Cori was beginning to see that teasing was Rhodey's way of saying he cares. And that wasn't really entirely a bad thing, right? I mean, not _everyone _needs to say outright how much they care. Ugh, I'm like that too. Friends and family know I care, but I don't really _say _the words directly. To anyone.

"Hey Tony, you okay? You look kinda worried about something." I heard Pepper ask.

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. I just have a strange feeling that someone is watching me." Tony explained. I felt a small sense of panic. I knew what his feeling was, but I knew I couldn't tell him. Sadly enough, he had to figure it out for himself.

"Psst," I whispered. "Pepper!" Pepper turned abruptly to me as Tony and Rhodey talked. I smiled.

"Wanna attract a boy?" I asked. She looked at me questioningly.

"I have flirting tips! Like I said!" She sighed in a way that told me she gives in.

"Okay, you gotta kiss up but not so much that he notices. Okay, when you go up to him next, flash him a flirty smile and bat your eyelashes or something. That's the smallest it gets. And right now, the plan is start smaller and gets larger. And I'm talking about the flirting signs." I explained. I knew what I said had caught her by surprise, but me pushing her into Tony surprised her more.

"Sorry, tripped." Pepper flimsily lied, glaring at me over her shoulder with an angered expression when Tony looked at her with a confused expression. I smirked when she turned back to Tony and batted her eyes a time or two. They are so going to be together before you can say 'cheese'.

As I walked away, I bumped into someone. As I took a step back, I saw who was standing there.

"Ch-Chelsea! What are you doing here?" I asked shakily. She had a devilish grin painted on her cheeks.

"I'm here to gain your assistance in my revenge against someone I should have taken care of a long time ago." She explained, keeping her grin. I frowned in frustration.

"I'm not helping you _kill_ Tony Stark. He's my friend. I won't let you hurt my new friends." I warned. It was a feeble warning because there was nothing in the world I could dawn to fight her that would be near powerful enough to even leave a scratch, but I knew I had to try.

Chelsea laughed menacingly.

"Oh, that's cute. You think you have a choice," She said. "No, dear sister, you are mistaken. You will help me with Tony Stark's demise, whether you like it or not. If you don't recall, I have complete and utter control over you. I can make you do anything I want you to do. You have absolutely no free will. So I repeat: you _will_ help me with the demise of Tony Stark. _Whether you like it or not._"

With that, Chelsea disappeared and I fell onto my knees in tears.

~…~

"Cori, what's wrong?" Pepper asked when she noticed my cheeks were wet. I turned to her, having been snapped out of my thoughts.

"What? Nothing's wrong, what makes you think I'm not okay?" I asked.

"You look like you've been crying." She explained. I mouthed an 'oh'.

"Umm. I was just at the drinking fountain, and it was kinda messy. I didn't realize my face was still wet." I proceeded to wipe the remaining tears from my face.

"Cori, you know if something is wrong, you can always tell me. You can tell me anything,"

_And yet I can't this time…_

"Yes Mr. Stark?" The teacher asked, which caught mine and Pepper's attention; considering he hadn't been paying attention to anything but his phone all class, it was kinda odd.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" He asked, shyly for some reason.

"Why does he go to the bathroom so much?" I asked. Pepper chuckled and turned her attention back to the lesson.

What's so funny, though?

…

As Tony exited the classroom, he began to walk hastily towards the boy's locker room so he could quickly exit through the window.

Yet once he was out the window, there was someone already standing there as if she'd been waiting for him.

"Cori? What are you doing here?" He asked. Cori had a devilish glare in her eyes and a frown on her face.

"I'm here to warn you, you stupid fool." She said maliciously.

"What? Warn me about what?" Tony asked, confused.

"About your death." She explained. Tony looked surprised; and he was. The weirder part was, Tony noticed, how it seemed like she was talking in two voices at the same time. Like two people were saying the same thing at the same time, except in one person. In a way that made it sound creepy.

"I will make you pay for wronging me and my parents years ago. You will pay with your death like my father did years ago," Cori continued to explain.

"You will die the same way my father did."

As Chelsea walked away with a malicious grin on her face, Cori collapsed on the ground after having walked away and turned a corner. As Cori became conscious a few minutes later, and made sure she had gained control of herself once more, she rubbed a sore spot on her forehead to help with focusing her vision once more. She had no idea what had happened, or how she had gotten from her class to the outside of the school, but she had a hunch; and it wasn't a friendly one.

Tony stood in his spot in shock and confusion. One minute Cori had been his friend and now she was threatening to kill him? Had he misjudged yet another person? Was he wrong about someone yet again? He wondered. Yet something about her seemed very strange. She didn't seem like herself, and furthermore, strange as it sounds to be concerned about, she didn't sound like her self.

**Well, that was a bit exciting. But I finally got to updating other stories! Sorry it took so terribly long. I just got so sidetracked by all these one-shot ideas and I just didn't know what I wanted to do for this chapter, and I finally pulled together enough stuff to make up a chapter. Anyways, review!**


	5. Pushed Away

Cori approached her three friends nervously. She knew Chelsea had spoken to Tony through herself, and she knew the things that had been said were probably not good things. But she hoped for the love of god that they would understand when she explained….explained that my sister literally controls me and whatever negative things I say, it isn't me saying them…yeah, that sounds believable. Oh, they probably hate me now, Cori thought.

"Uh, hey guys…" Cori said.

"Uh, hey Cori can we talk?" Tony asked. Cori nodded nervously.

"What's the deal with earlier today? You were all evil on me and now you're all nice?" Tony asked. Cori sighed. He's never going to believe me, she thought.

"Look, it's a really long story and you'll never believe me. But long story short, that _wasn't _me talking. I promise you whatever I do to make you believe that I've turned on you isn't actually me talking. And this sounds really weird to you, I know, but I promise I'd never turn on you guys. The girl who was really talking to you? Her name is Chelsea and she's my twin sister." Cori paused in hopes that Tony would show her a face that meant he understands. Instead, his expression was somewhere…in between believing and not believing.

"Please, you gotta believe me. Look, if you want my life story then I can tell it to you after school. I'm not an enemy,"

Tony thought for a moment more. "Fine. But I want a full explanation after school." Cori smiled.

"Thank you so much, Tony, you're the best!" Cori thanked him as they walked off to class.

~…~

After school, Tony led Cori to the three chairs and tv-set that they always hung out at and sat her down on one of the chairs.

"Alright, now what's your story?" Tony demanded. Pepper and Rhodey sat down at the other two chairs, Pepper resting against the back of Tony's seat and Rhodey taking the last available seat.

"It's kinda long. You might want to sit down for this." Tony nodded and took a seat. Then Cori took a deep breath and began to explain.

"It all began when we were born," Cori began. "We were born, we were joined at the head. Right down to the brain. Our skulls and brains were connected and we each had our own bodies, but we could control each other's everything. I could say something out of her mouth, and vice versa. We didn't hate it, either. But the doctors—and our folks—did. They had us separated. Our brains, skulls, and heads were surgically separated and everything turned out to be fine. But from that day, something was weird between us from the day we got separated," Cori explained. Tony listened with great interest.

"We were able to live our separate lives, but there were times where my sister would reach for something and I would do the same thing. But the weird part was that I wouldn't intentionally do the same thing she did. When she said something, sometimes I would say the same thing. It was like somehow we were still attached. And if that wasn't enough, she started to take after my jailbird-dad. She was devious, mean, rude, and everything in between. She got in trouble at school from day one and she was in detention every day of her life. Soon enough there wasn't a nice thought in her head. And everything my dad hated, she hated. Which brings me to how she's involved in hating you,"

"My dad was always a bad seed. Like my sister, he got detention constantly and he picked on kids a lot. He was pretty much the school bully for his entire school career. He grew up back in Tennessee, but he went to college in New York City. And when he was in college, he met your dad. And when he met your dad, your dad was trying to start his own weapons manufacturing company but he was having trouble getting it off the ground. My dad was a business major and he saw that your dad was a real genius and that he had some really good ideas. So he decided to help your dad with his company." Cori continued.

"But my dad still had his malicious behavior, business major or no. And he always kept that in mind. So with his degree in business, my dad helped your dad build up Stark International from the ground. Apparently he was a very good businessman. But the real reason why my dad was so into helping your dad was because my dad knew that your dad could build weapons so dangerous that my dad could—and this is really going to sound wacko, but that's my dad for you—take control of the world, basically. My dad wanted to dominate. He just wanted to have the world eating out of the palm of his hands, ever since childhood. My dad knew that he could make that happen with Stark International and Howard Stark by his side. So once Stark International had a building, dozens of employees, and was a powerful new company, your dad got married to his college sweetheart—your mom—and they planned to have a son—you."

"So with that in mind, your dad began to think a lot about what he wanted his son to look up to and what he wanted his son to grow up with. And he realized that making and providing weapons for the military and other suppliers wasn't that. As you probably know, once your mom was certain she was pregnant with you, your dad turned his company around and made it a place you could be proud of. But my dad wasn't happy about that. He knew that by doing so your dad was running their company right back into the ground. Without the military at the snap of his fingers, my dad knew he would never get what he wanted. He wanted your dad to keep Stark International a weapons manufacturing company. And when your dad kept refusing, my dad got tired of it and left the company for his hometown in Tennessee, swearing his revenge against your dad and everyone he loves. And since your dad is dead, you were the next best for him." But Cori wasn't done explaining.

"But when my dad got back to Tennessee, and after he settled down with a wife and two kids—me and my sister—he got back into his grade-school habit and began a bunch of his old nasty habits; which eventually got him arrested, which in result, caused my mom to divorce him. So since he couldn't break out of jail, and since my sister hated everything my dad did and she was practically the female version of him, my sister took on his quest for revenge and convinced my mom to move us to the city. And that's how we're in this mess today." Cori was finished and by the end of her long story, the three were surprised. There was actually a long, vivid explanation of her strange behaviors.

"Wow, I didn't know any of that…" Cori knew they were all at a loss for words; that's how her friends usually were when she explained that. Not that she explained the story often—she had only told the very long story to her very best friend back in Tennessee who she missed a whole lot, but her friend had basically the same reaction.

"Yeah. I don't really tell people because of my sister. She would slice me if I had told anyone at our old school, except my best friend, who totally understood everything. But now you know to look out for a girl who looks just like me except basically, evil. And if I do anything that seems mean or rude or just not nice in general, you have to know its not me doing it but its my sister. Do you understand now?"

All the three could do is nod.

~…~

That's it, puppet, dance. Dance a little dance for me. Let Stark know the whole story. It won't save him from anything. No matter what you tell him, you're still killing him for me. So what, he trusts you. I don't care about who he can trust and who he cannot. I only care that it means you will have a greater fall when your 'trusted friend' kills you.

Chelsea raised her arm and watched as Corinne did the same. She knew her sister was aware of the involuntary movement and that's why she got up to leave. She listened as her sister told her friends she had to go; but the shocked and saddened look on her face said otherwise. Chelsea smiled her devious smile and knew that whenever she controlled her sister it scared her beyond belief. You'd think she'd be used to it by now, but apparently my control over her is still very scary. Pathetic. I still don't know how in the world she's related to me. She's just like mom. She's weak, and too nice. They're both too spineless.

So you can dance your little dance, puppets, but my father will get his rightful revenge.

Stark will be dead.

~…~

"Hey, Cori, why'd you run off so quickly yesterday?" Pepper asked as she and Tony approached me in the hallway the next day at school. My eyes grew teary as I remembered everything I had thought about yesterday when I got home.

"Look, guys, just…just stay away from me," I ran off before they had the chance to see me start to cry. I could tell they were suspicious and curious and I just hoped they didn't send Pepper after me, or Pepper didn't come after me herself. I don't want them in danger because they keep hanging around me. I-it…I just don't want them to get hurt.

"Cori? Coooriii? Are you in here?" I heard Pepper's voice fill the bathroom. I quietly opened the stall door and Pepper instantly knew I was in there.

When she saw me sitting on the top of the back part of the toilet, hugging my knees, she knew something was wrong.

"Come on, Cori, what's wrong?" She asked. I looked up at her and I could tell she knew something was really wrong by the look in my eyes.

"Look, its just too dangerous to be around me, Pepper…not just for Tony, for all of you. My sister will stop at nothing to kill Tony, and if that means killing everyone he cares about then she will. You don't know her like I do, and I just don't want you guys to get hurt." I said as more tears came to my eyes. The look Pepper gave me suggested she was ready to hear more.

"Look, I've never been able to have a real friend because of Chelsea. The only real friend I've ever had is my best friend back in Tennessee, but my sister tore me apart from her too by making me move. You have no idea how much I miss hanging out with my best friend. A-and now I finally get to have some real friends and she won't let me have those either," I could tell that as I spoke more the tears came out heavier.

"And the worst part is, I miss the sister I used to have. When we were little, we used to be so close. We were the closest sisters could be, until she started turning into my dad. We did everything together, even after we were separated. We were like best friends, and for a while it seemed like we were all a happy family. But then things started to fall apart, my dad and sister went bad, and it was like I blinked and it was just me, my mom and my sister." I knew she could tell just how upset everything was making me and I appreciated that, but I still stand by my decision. So I stood from the bathroom stall.

"Look, Pepper," I said, as I wiped away my tears. "I know you and Rhodey and Tony want to be there for me but I-I just can't stand to see you guys get hurt. So please, when I say stay away from me It's too dangerous, then for the love of god I'm begging you, for your guys' safety, stay away from me I'm too dangerous." I walked out of the bathroom and went to class, knowing I'm probably never going to be happy again because Chelsea had to take it all for herself.

**Wow, that was a good chapter for me. I didn't know I had that much in me in the field of improvising—I mean…creativity…and by creativity I mean I came up with this whole chapter off of the top of my head and even though that's usually what happens, this turned out pretty well compared to my usual stuff. Ahh, so review?**


	6. Danger Arising: Warning Signs

"Some time today, Ms Bennett?" The teacher barked. She had been awaiting Cori's attention for a while.

"Oh sorry," Cori said, "Uhh, 42?" She finished. _I hate math. _

Then the teacher went on some rant about the importance of math and paying attention to it and learning it for the future, because 'you have a final in two weeks and its going to be bad if you fail', but Cori went into a daydream about a memory of when her parents had taken her and Chelsea to the beach during their vacation in Florida one year during summer vacation. It had started as a normal day, but it had taken the most dramatic turn one could even think of…

~…~

"Mommy, mommy can we go in the water?" Corinne Bennett, six year old twin of Chelsea Bennett, said as she rushed over from her sand castle-building, tugging on her mother's shirt. The mother, Maxine Bennett (more commonly referred to as Max), set down her book to see her two twin daughters standing by her chair-side with hopeful smiles on their faces. She smiled.

"I don't see why not. Let's go!" Max said, standing from her chair, removing her shirt as she ran towards the water with her two daughters.

As Corinne and Maxine reached the water, they began splashing around in the shallow wading waters. Chelsea, standing where the water touched her feet every few minutes, caught sight of the lifeguard posting a sign that warned people of jellyfish. Suddenly an evil grin grew on her face as she looked back to her mother and sister. Suddenly she ran up to them, pretending to be playful, and pushed them further into the ocean, tumbling along with them to keep herself seeming innocent. She saw the small, nearly invisible outlines of box-like creatures and suddenly ran back to shore, Maxine chasing after Chelsea playfully

Corinne, however, was not so lucky.

She had been knocked over by an incoming wave, and was standing up again when she felt a stinging pain in her leg all the sudden. It was a sharp stinging sensation at first, but then the pain shot through her whole body and she screamed out for her mother, trying not to collapse into the water.

Maxine turned back to see Corinne wobbling in the retracting ocean water, crying profusely. She ran back to her, picked her up and carried her back to their blanket where she laid Corinne down to examine what had happened.

"What's wrong, honey? What happened?" Maxine asked frantically; Chelsea and David—their father—went to bring Chelsea to go to the bathroom and get a lifeguard to examine what had happened.

"I don't know, mommy, my leg hurts real bad!" Corinne cried. Max looked over to Corinne's leg to see that there was a large gash on it and her whole leg, from the knee to the ankle, was starting to get really swollen.

"Oh my gosh!" Maxine panicked. The lifeguard came over and instantly knew what was wrong. He bent over Corinne.

"What's her name?" He asked.

"Corinne," Max answered.

"Corinne, honey, did you feel a sting on your leg at first?" He asked. Corinne nodded, to overwhelmed with tears to utter a word at all.

"Alright we need to get her to the hospital. If I'm right, your daughter has been stung by a jellyfish." He immediately picked up Corinne and rushed towards the emergency area, where an ambulance could be called for. Maxine quickly followed behind him, quickly grabbing her phone so Chelsea and David would know where they went.

"Hey Bert, could you hurry and call an ambulance while I take care of this a little?" He asked. The guy already in the building nodded and rushed to a phone.

While the lifeguard attended to Corinne, Chelsea and David walked in; Chelsea sporting an evil smirk on her face.

It was the first deliberate act of violence she had ever done, and Corinne had a feeling there would be many to follow it.

~…~

_Psh. What do oceans do for people anyways. It turned my sister evil…_

"She tends to do this a lot." Cori heard from around her. She was startled out of her daydreaming to find that Tony and Rhodey were walking next to her; somehow she had subconsciously gotten up when the bell rang and was heading to her next class. _Stupid Chelsea._

"What?" Cori asked.

"We're talking about how you completely zoned out." Tony explained.

"Oh did I? Sorry, I didn't think I'd be talking to you because I distinctly remember telling you to stay away from me," Cori said. She knew that if she said anything about her sister the conversation could suddenly spiral out of control, and she was far from in the mood for that; so she just avoided talking to them altogether as much as possible.

"Well on that note, I think it's time for me to go my own way," Tony said, turning the corner as Cori and Rhodey went straight; it was time for Rhodey's favorite class of the day, history.

"So, um, I was kinda hoping you'd help me get my history grade up a little because I'm not doing too fantastic in that class…" Cori asked shyly, a bright pink blush coming to her cheeks.

"You mean like tutor you?" He said. Cori nodded.

"Sure, no problem. I can boost your grade from a sloppy seventy to a nifty ninety!" Rhodey said, chuckling. Cori laughed briefly as she hugged her books closer to her.

"Yeah, well I need an exciting eighty-five or higher or I'm grounded for the rest of the month. And its strictly going to be tutoring, no signs at all of being friends. Or you-know-who will come lurking and trying to kill you. And I know from experience that defenseless humans—no offense—can't stop her." Cori explained, causing Rhodey to chuckle at her last comment.

"Ouch. Tough mom, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, I know where you're coming from. Oh and by the way, if its defending myself you're worried about, I have a feeling there's not going to be a problem there.

Cori also hated having to ask Rhodey for help when she had just gotten through telling him and his friends not to talk to her, but this wasn't a matter of being a friend. It was a matter of trying to keep her priorities straight and trying to have a nice, normal life with nice, normal grades and a nice, normal, not evil sister.

Or, maybe more realistically, she thought, a nice normal only child.

~…~

After school let out a couple hours later, Cori was waiting outside of the Tomorrow Academy for Rhodey to come out.

Instead, as she was waiting, Tony came out, Pepper following next to him.

"Oh, hey Cori. What's up?" He asked.

"Waiting for Rhodey for some history help." She answered. Tony nodded.

"Ah. Well good luck with that one," He said, walking towards the lab to get working on the armor. As they walked away, though, Cori grabbed Pepper and pulled her back.

"It starts with you," She said, a devilish look in her eye as she pulled out a knife from her back pocket and held it up to her neck. Pepper quivered in fear. She knew it wasn't Cori talking, but she couldn't help but feel betrayed.

"I'm going to send you off with a warning fist because I know you're most important to him. But you can make sure to tell your stupid little boyfriend that he and everyone he cares about, _especially _you, are done for. And I'm saving the best for last." Cori shoved Pepper away, leaning back against the wall as she fell limp and sunk to the ground, leaving Pepper scared more than anything. She stood there for a moment, collecting her thoughts.

"Uu-Cori are you okay?" She asked.

"Y-yeah, just please catch up to Tony before Chelsea comes back…I'll be fine." Cori snapped. Pepper scurried along to catch up to Tony, Cori (or Chelsea?)'s words echoing through her head: _you're most important to him. Especially you. _What does she mean? Pepper wondered.

But the more urgent thing running through her head was the fact that Cori—and her sister, for that matter—were very dangerous.

**Okay, this is a warning for ALL OF MY CURRENT STORIES. I've had a lot going on lately—swimming started recently, band competitions, school, and the suckish part is my computer, which is more than 5 years old (if you remember the store CompUSA, that's where my mom got it from like a long time ago. So its old.) and its starting to break down on me. I'm in the process of searching for a new one and I'm hoping to have a new one before my birthday (November 6****th****! Woot sweet sixteen :D ) so if my updating isn't what it used to be, I apologize. Chances are I won't be able to update that frequently. So sorry again. But you'll keep reviewing, right?**


	7. More Surprises

"Seriously, Cori, what would it take to convince you that you don't have to ignore me just to protect me?" Tony asked, following Cori around in the halls at school. And honestly, Cori was getting annoyed. She stopped and turned.

"Why do you even care? People usually give up by now." Chloe asked, tired of Tony's chasing.

"I'm not one to give up." Tony answered.

"Great. Just what I need. Look, I told you why we shouldn't be friends anymore, and I'm not going to tell you again. So please, just leave me alone?"

"Come on, how can I convince you otherwise?"

"Why don't you just go flirt—I mean hang out with Pepper and stop bugging me?"

"Cori."

"Maybe if you were some super strong superhero, I'd be convinced that you can protect yourself. But for now you're not, so my answer still remains to be _go. away._" Cori spat angrily, storming off to her next class, leaving Tony in the middle of the hallway, very confused.

For now?

~…~

Tony pondered those words the rest of the school day. He knew sometimes people just said things that didn't really mean anything, but what she had told him stuck and he knew it meant maybe she knew more than she needed to. But there was _no _way she could have found out. It was an impossible code to crack.

And what did that flirting crack mean? I do _not _flirt. Especially with my best friends. I only mindlessly flirt with girls I like. Tony Stark is no player. No sir. I don't roll that way. I mean, sure, maybe when we first met I thought maybe we could be more than friends but now that we know each other better I definitely don't like her like that. Why would I be dating Whitney if I did? **(A/N: Ugh, I hated saying that.) **

More importantly, I need to get Cori to talk to us again. She's in danger and I need to help her. I'm Iron Man. I can do more than she thinks. Maybe I should tell her I'm Iron Man…

~…~

Oh believe me, I know Tony is Iron Man. If you look close enough it's not that hard to figure out. I mean, he and his father—the smartest people in the city—invented stuff on a daily basis that was really high-tech. And all the sudden a really high-tech superhero comes along and it's a big mystery who he is? There's really only one person eligible for the job and that's Tony Stark. He thinks it's the hardest secret in the world to figure out but really it doesn't take a genius to put the pieces together. People are just too oblivious to figure it out. I'm not stupid…

And furthermore, I know he's going to play the 'I'm telling you my biggest secret so you'll trust me and let me and my friends help you' card, but even Iron Man can't protect against Chelsea. Maybe a little, but in the long run she'll just keep coming back and coming back.

~…~

Later that day, Tony approached Cori when she was at her locker.

"Look, Cori, can I tell you something?" Tony asked.

"Tony, please go away. I thought we talked about this."

"This is something we need to talk about."

"No. Go away."

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on, Cori."

"Tony, I said no!"

"Cori please! It's important, I need to tell you!"

"WHAT, TONY! Are you trying to tell me that you're Iron Man? Cuz I already know! So don't waste your time!" Cori said, slamming her locker shut. She knew no one was in that hallway so she didn't bother hushing.

"How-how did you know that?" Tony asked nervously.

"Tony I'm not stupid. Its not really a hard thing to figure out."

"Well then let me protect you from your sister! Iron Man can endure anything, he's strong."

"Tony not even you can protect me against my sister."

"Why not? Come on, stop pushing everyone away! Believe me, it doesn't work."

"Because she's dead, Tony! My sister is dead! You can't see her, you can't even touch her! So no, you can't protect me from her!"

Tony went dead silent at this. This was something he didn't know. And it was something he was shocked to find out.

Cori could see the confusion and shock written in his face. She led him outside the school and they sat on the front steps. Cori began to explain as she looked out to the city, the breeze whipping her hair back and forth slightly.

"What I told you about me and my sister being Siamese twins was true. But there's another part I didn't tell you. It's the reason we moved to the big city." She began.

"It started about a month before we moved. My sister was really starting to head down the wrong track, doing bad things left and right. One day…" Cori paused and swallowed her tears. This story wasn't one she liked to tell.

"One day, she was walking downtown when someone passing by on the sidewalk bumped into her by accident. She was already really angry that day because my mom had been yelling at her. And when he bumped her that day…she just snapped. She pulled a knife from her pocket and killed him right there. She was arrested on the spot. She almost didn't get a trial because everyone saw her do it." Tears were starting to fall down Cori's cheeks by this point, and she wiped them away as she looked into the distance.

"The police took her to juvy—we had just turned sixteen—and she was only there for a few days and she was already causing problems with the other inmates. She got in fights daily and when we went to see her after the first week she had bruises all over her arms and she had a black eye. I hated seeing her like that. I really did. I had to look at my twin sister in an orange jumpsuit whenever I saw her. That month she had her trial and was found guilty. She would stay in jail basically the rest of her life." Cori took a deep breath before continuing.

"The day after we visited her, Chelsea…she got in a fight…" Cori paused for a few minutes.

"The girl she was fighting with stabbed her and killed her." Now Cori just couldn't take it. She dropped her face into her hands and the tears flowed down her cheeks like water down a river. Tony rubbed her back to try and get her to stop crying, and eventually she calmed down enough to keep explaining, little hiccups of tears interrupting her every few minutes.

"She haunted me every day since she was murdered. She followed me to school and anywhere I went, and all I would see is me in an orange jumpsuit, covered in blood. I-I couldn't take it. My friends would ask me all the time about the bags under my eyes and why I looked so miserable and depressed all the time. I told my mom at Chelsea's burial that she was haunting me and she said that our home was haunting her now too. She said she blamed herself for the way Chelsea turned out and I told her it wasn't her fault, it was dad's, mostly because she turned out to be like him. I didn't want to blame you or your dad because I knew it wasn't your fault for what happened."

"So we decided to move. We sold our house immediately and went to the one place Chelsea wouldn't want to follow us to: New York City. We moved there also because we knew that we could rely on you if we ever needed help and you'd be right there in the city for us. It seemed like the best option. But it really wasn't. When I got to the Tomorrow Academy and started making friends with you, Rhodey and Pepper, I noticed her again. She was watching you closely, and keeping an eye out for me. I asked my classmates if they saw her, but they didn't. So I knew then that we should have never moved here. Running away never solves your problems. Now that I've come here and made friends with you, she's found an even easier way to kill you for my father's revenge."

"The worst part is that she can still control me and I don't know why that's possible. I don't know what's going to have to happen to break free from her and I fear I'm stuck to her the rest of my life. And I know that even if she doesn't have me kill you, she'll jus take over someone else's body and make that person look like her just so she can do it herself. Either way, she will find a way to kill you."

It went silent for a moment.

"Now do you see why we can't hang out anymore?"

Tony just nodded, looking down to his feet. Somehow, something had changed with him. Cori feared that if Chelsea were to take over anyone, it might just be Tony.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you, though, just to make sure you're safe. But for now…goodbye, Tony."

Cori stood and walked away, stuffing her hands in her coat pocket.

~…~

"Tony, aren't you going to at least try to get her back? She obviously needs our help." Pepper asked, seeing that the next day Tony wasn't trying his usual stunts to get Cori to talk to them.

"No. We're leaving her alone." Tony said, his tone oddly struck with the negativeness that he had when he was talking to Cori. Pepper found this very odd and concerning.

"Tony, what's wrong with you?" She asked.

"Chelsea is too dangerous. We shouldn't be messing with her." Tony said, walking out of their first period class. Pepper shrugged to Rhodey.

"What's gotten into him lately?" She asked. Rhodey shrugged.

Cori, having been sitting in the back of class, had a sick feeling in her stomach that Chelsea was starting to make her mark.

**Oh hot damn! This chapter was more awesome than I thought. What'd you think? Review!**


	8. Nearing The End

Cori wasn't too pleased with Tony's odd behavior lately. He seemed different. He seemed more negative, not his usual mellow self. She knew she wasn't supposed to be associating with him anymore, but she was tempted to ask if he was okay. He didn't seem like Tony, he seemed more like…Chelsea. And that worried her to no end.

So instead of talking to him, she decided to devise a little test. If it really was Chelsea demonizing Tony, this test would tell Cori.

Cori scribbled a message on a piece of paper and on her way to her next class, she stuck it into Tony's locker. She didn't like what the message said, but she knew Chelsea would like it even less.

She waited on the roof during her free period for the 'test results'.

~…~

Tony silently walked through the halls to his locker, Pepper hanging by him like usual, just as concerned about Tony's new attitude as Cori was. He wasn't usually this depressed over something. His version of depressed was stuffing himself in his video games and claiming 'he was just thinking'. But everyone knew that was his way of stuffing his emotions into a locked box made of steel that nobody could get into. Sometimes, not even he could get into it either.

But this attitude was very unlike him. He just moped around everywhere and never said anything, and his face always seemed to have a snarl on it. He was always either sad or angry and whenever you tried to ask him if anything was wrong, he would just growl or groan, but would never really utter a yes or a no. Which concerned Pepper to no end as well.

When Tony got to his locker, however, something totally different happened. A note fell to the floor and when he picked it up and read it, it said:

_Dad deserved everything he went through in his life and so do you._

Tony seemed infuriated by the statement rather than confused. Pepper had no idea who had written it because there wasn't a signature with the brief note and she didn't know who would refer to Tony's father as 'dad' if Tony was an only child. Maybe the note was meant for someone else but accidentally fell into Tony's locker? Pepper theorized.

But somehow, Tony understood perfectly. He was infuriated, his nostrils flaring and his eyes filling with a flame of rage. He dropped his books into his locker, slammed it shut and trudged up to the roof. Pepper quickly followed, curious and confused, yelling after him "Where are you going? What's wrong?" As she did so. He just ignored her and ran up to the roof, where Cori was sitting calmly.

"Tony, you said we weren't associating with her anymore!" Pepper asked, very confused.

"Corinne you know this is wrong!" Tony exclaimed, his voice overflowing with rage. Cori smiled devilishly. She knew the results of her test now.

"Oh, you're accusing me of something being wrong and you're a girl in a boy's body? I don't know about you but I'm looking at wrong right now." Cori said calmly as she stood like nothing was wrong.

"You know this is wrong, Corinne, and if you knew what was best for you you'd take it back! I can kill your friend with a flick of my wrist, don't forget!" Chelsea threatened, placing a hand over Tony's arc reactor.

"Cori what is going on here? Whatever it is don't let her kill my Tony! I-I mean Tony!" Pepper blushed.

"Shut up you have nothing to do with this!" Chelsea yelled over her shoulder. "You know there's nothing you can do to stop me. I'm staying in this body for as long as it takes to make your life as miserable as possible.

"Chelsea you're making my life hell without taking over my friend. So you can stop controlling him and step out of his body." Cori suggested. Chelsea chuckled through Tony's voice.

"You can't make me do anything."

"Oh yeah? I know how to break off mind control."

"Mind control?" Pepper chimed, confused.

"Hah! You're lying. You don't know anything about the power I wield." Tony's voice mocked.

"I think I know a thing or two about my sister's life. Besides, the things Tony knows about the Ghost could be valuable to me."

Okay. Now I'm just downright confused, thought Pepper.

"You have no power over me! I will have my revenge!"

"Why are you so prominent to get revenge for something that's not even your problem? This whole thing that you're tied up in was all dad's problem and there's no need for you to carry it on."

"I'm just being a good daughter, Corinne. And you could join me and father would be proud of us both. You could see things through my eyes, Corinne,"

"But I don't want to! I want you to see things the way I do! Dad's a horrible person and all and the things he did were terrible but I still love him! You can be that way too. I would be willing to give you a second chance and I'm sure my friends would be too."

"No! You're wrong! I'll never change!"

"What makes you so sure?" They began to yell.

"THE FACT THAT YOUR LIFE IS SO PERFECT AND MINE HAS BEEN BENT ON STUPID REVENGE!" Chelsea yelled. Cori couldn't think of what to say.

"Yeah, that's right. For those few years of childhood into teenhood being like dad seemed cool. But then I saw what a normal teenage life you got to live and I realized it was stupid, what I was doing. But dad told me it was too late to turn back, and I believed him like an idiot! But now I see it really is too late! I'm going to kill Tony Stark as wished by our father!" Tony's hand grabbed his own heart and began to rip it out of its sockets. Pepper, who had been too scared and confused to react, jumped onto Tony's arm and fought to hold it back.

"I won't let you kill him! Whoever you are, whatever you are you won't lay a hand on him!" Pepper exclaimed out of anger.

"Oh, and what are you going to do? You're just a stupid emotion-ridden teenage girl!"

"Yeah, but this emotion-ridden teenage girl can probably cut to the core and get to the real Tony!"

"I'd like to see a try!"

"I know Tony's in there and I know he's listening and I know he's fighting and I know he'll hear it when I say I-I LOVE TONY STARK!" Pepper exclaimed. Suddenly, Tony went silent. The struggle only continued in his mind and Pepper knew that meant Tony was fighting a bit harder.

"Quick, Pepper, do you see a small micro-chip looking thing on the back of his neck?" Cori asked. Pepper glanced on the back of his neck.

"Yeah! I see it!"

"Good! Now take this and set this circular part on the microchip and press this button!" Cori threw Pepper a device that looked like a high-tech gun. Pepper obeyed orders, knowing that by doing this it would probably erase whatever effects Chelsea had on Tony.

The microchip fell to the ground and Tony rubbed his head in irritation.

"Tony are you okay?" Pepper asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Y-yeah, I think so…" Tony said softly.

Chelsea appeared out of a shaded corner of the roof, highly frustrated.

"Ugh, you stupid teenagers are ruining my plans!" She exclaimed.

"What-what's going on here? I see Chelsea!"

"Not for long you won't! I'm done letting you control my life, Chelsea! This is your last chance! Either take this chance and be a normal teenager or you suffer the consequences now!"

"I'll never be like you, ever! You will be the very way I kill Tony Stark!"

Now as Chelsea tried to control Cori, Cori struggled. Chelsea knew Cori had carried a knife in her back pocket, but Corinne was fighting back the control. But Chelsea managed to make Corinne take out the knife from her back pocket, grab Tony—who sunk to his knees in the sudden confusion—and made her hold it over him. But from there, Cori resisted too much to make her do it.

"Stop resisting!" Chelsea yelled.

"Never!"

Cori knew it was getting harder and harder to fight back.

Cori felt the tears forming in her eyes and falling heavily down her cheeks as she held the knife over Tony's already weakened body.

"I'm so sorry, Tony," She whispered.

"Today, is the day you die!" Chelsea exclaimed, standing behind Cori, holding her hand up above her head the same way Cori was; only hers was void of a knife.

Cori watched as her arm uncontrollably came flying down. Everything seemed to play out in slowmotion. The tear spilled down her cheeks slowly, her arm came down slowly, and all the thoughts going through her head zoomed.

_The only way you can break free, Corinne, is by detaching yourself from her as a sister. _

"NO!"

**Don't shoot me I'm going to start writing the next chapter! It's going to get a little confusing around here, but by the end it'll all make sense, I promise. Just hold in there. I kinda ruined the initial ending plan by adding the fact that Chelsea is dead, but I'm working around it, don't worry. Review?**


	9. End Of The End

"NO!" Cori screamed as she saw Tony's innocent and scared expression as he lay helplessly on the ground. She swung around to Chelsea and dropped the knife.

"I'm done letting myself be controlled by you, Chelsea! I'm your sister, not your puppet! What happened to the sister I used to know? The sister who would braid my hair and paint my nails, and stay up all night with me when I was scared of the dark and couldn't sleep? What happened that made you this way?" Cori talked over the sounds of the thunder.

"That Chelsea is gone, Corinne," Chelsea responded, "and you know that."

"No, she's not, you're wrong. I still see the old Chelsea sitting inside you, yearning to break free. I can still see the little girl inside you that wants to sit down in our room and just play with our dolls again, just like things used to be. What's holding you back, Chelsea? Because I don't see anything." Things easily got quiet between the two. Chelsea picked up the knife.

"I'm sorry, Cori, I really am."

And with that, Chelsea slid the knife through her chest and dropped to the ground, her body limp and lifeless.

Chelsea was gone.

After a few minutes of silence where the three were soaking in what just happened, Pepper spoke up.

"I'm still confused. What exactly just happened?" Pepper asked.

"It's kind of hard to explain. Remember how I said my sister was killed in prison?" Cori asked. Tony and Pepper nodded.

"Well that's not exactly true. That's the cover story. She did go to prison and get in fights, but one time she got in a big fight and got sent to meet with the warden. The warden was determined to turn her attitude around. He wanted her to spend time in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier with some of the agents who worked there. So she did."

"But while she was there she met someone who had been robbing the place for some guy named the Living Laser. I think you know about that adventure, right?"

"She was intrigued by this guy. He went by the name of Ghost. Chelsea was intrigued by his abilities and she wanted to be able to do what he could do. So he took her under his wing and trained her in his ways. But that wasn't enough for her. She wanted to be able to vanish and still be there, she wanted to be able to look on people without being seen. She wanted to be like him."

"She had a way of wanting to be like everyone else. We never knew why, but she was never really born with an individual personality. She was always just like me, just like my dad, just like Ghost. She was never her own person, never an individual. We always suspected that there was something wrong with her, but we never knew exactly what. But this identity problem has caused her to feel like completing my father's quest for revenge, she would feel complete, like she was somebody. No matter what we said, she would always feel a strong sense that she needs to kill you. When really she doesn't. A large part of this is my father's fault and partly due to the fact that we were Siamese twins."

"So Ghost conducted an experiment. Once again, we never really knew exactly what it was but whatever it was it made her able to do anything Ghost could do. She could appear invisible to the world around her, she could walk through walls and she could spy in plain sight. Somehow she managed to connect this to being able to kill you for revenge against your dad."

"She tried to use me to get to you, basically. So yeah, she's technically dead, and technically I did lose my sister. I lost the sister I had when we were little."

"Well at least we can just be glad it's all over now." Tony said, leading the three of them downstairs and back to class.

Cori went directly home, but Tony grabbed Pepper's arm before they could walk down the stairs and into the school and turned her around.

"Pepper, did you mean what you said back there?" He asked. Pepper was silent for a moment.

"Yeah…" She said. "I-if you don't feel the same I understand…" She said, turning her gaze towards her feet. Tony lifted her head with his finger under her chin. He had a smile spread on his face.

"I never said I didn't." He leaned in and kissed her slowly. Pepper closed her eyes in sheer thrill. In her head she was screaming like a fangirl meeting someone from her favorite show, but for once she managed to hide it and stay totally calm. She still melted in his arms when he wrapped them around her.

**The endd! Dramatic and cute :3 for now that's all I have for this story, and I don't think I have a sequel for this. So hope you liked it! Chapters 8 and 9 would've been one chapter if it wasn't so long. Review!**


End file.
